Sam Lane
Book Sam Lane for speaking engagements & events.
Sam Lane is a pioneering broadcast journalist and author. Her award-winning work spans print, television, podcast and radio.
Sam’s first book ROAR is the definitive account of the birth of the Australian Football League’s elite competition for women, published in 2018 and formally endorsed by Australia’s first woman Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
ROAR became part of the global movement for gender equity, diversity and inclusion, with the AFLW catalysing profound change on and off-field. Sam delivers keynote presentations on the topic, in Australia and abroad, including one at the Australian Embassy in Paris.
Sam is currently writing the story of Australian sporting luminary, Erin Phillips, due for publication in 2024.
A trailblazer on television, Sam covered men’s AFL on Channels Seven and Ten for more than 15 years. In 2013, she joined Channel Seven’s prime time Saturday night footy coverage and was part of Seven’s record-breaking broadcast of the 2018 Commonwealth Games. Sam was a panellist on Channel Ten’s Before the Game for 10 years, and also featured in the ABC’s Agony Aunts series.
She has covered every season of AFL women’s since its inception in 2017 and currently hosts a weekly ABC podcast The W – with Sharni and Sam.
Her journalism awards include two Melbourne Press Club Quills, a Walkley, two VicHealth awards, the AFL Players’ Association and AFL Coaches’ Association media prizes, three VicSport awards and an Australian Sports Commission media award.
As a keynote speaker, panel moderator, event MC and conference host, Sam’s clients include QBE, Virgin Australia, Mercedes Benz Australia, National Australia Bank, Sport Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria, CGU, and the Sydney and Richmond AFL football clubs. She co-hosted the Australian national speaking tour of basketball legend Luc Longley in sold-out shows through 2022, and moderated live events with Australian of the Year Adam Goodes in 2019.
Sam sits on the Australian Institute of Sport’s Athlete Wellbeing and Engagement Advisory Committee, chaired by Olympic icon Ian Thorpe, and is a member of the Board of Directors of The Chappell Foundation, raising funds for homeless youth. She sits on Sydney’s AFLW steering committee and is an ambassador for Flourish Australia.
In her distinguished journalism career, Sam wrote for Melbourne’s The Age and Sunday Age, and The Sydney Morning Herald newspapers for 13 years, reporting from Beijing, London, Rio and Delhi at Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
She has reported from the men’s Tour de France three times, and the landmark first women’s Tour de France in 2022 on ABC television, radio and podcast. Sam wrote and produced two series of number one-rating The Originals podcast for AFL club, Richmond, in 2020-21.
Sam speaks French, studying at the Université Michel de Montaigne in Bordeaux to complete a Diploma of Modern Languages (French), and has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne.
Sam Lane keynote topics
Tailored to client, occasion and audience, 15-60 minutes plus optional Q&A
1 TRAILBLAZING AND “ONE-OUT” WOMEN
. A pioneer on TV, radio and in print in Australian sport, Sam discusses the pros and cons of being a “one-out woman” in a workplace, the value of allies, and overcoming roadblocks (with specific first-hand examples);
. Highlights from a multi-media career including reporting from: three Summer Olympic Games, three editions of the men’s Tour de France, the landmark 2022 women’s Tour de France, the 2018 Commonwealth Games and countless AFL men’s and women’s grand finals and seasons. The thrills and (occasional) spills.
2 A “MOVEMENT BIGGER THAN SPORT” – GAME CHANGING ON AND OFF FIELD
. Sam’s first book, ROAR (2018, Penguin Random House), is the definitive account of the birth of the AFL women’s league. Sam shares inside stories from the unforgettable 2017 launch of AFLW, to the sexism and homophobia that tried to keep it down;
. Sam discusses the global rise of women in sport on field – leadership, pay and other equality battles, including sexism, homophobia and other systemic discrimination.
ENDORSEMENTS OF ROAR: “I once joked about playing full-forward for the Western Bulldogs. At the time, that was an impossible dream for any woman. But not anymore. The AFLW has unlocked a new wave of Australian sporting heroes for young girls, where ambition to play footy is no longer inhibited by gender. Best on ground to Samantha Lane for this inspiring account of the resilience and determination it took to get the League to a national level, and showcasing the depth of talent amongst its players.”
JULIA GILLARD AC, 27th Prime Minister of Australia
“A powerful and timely call to arms.”
ROBERT MURPHY, AFL CHAMPION
3 DAUGHTERS, DADS AND MUMS
. Sam shares the life-changing story of losing her Mum when she was 10, and moving in with her Dad – sport broadcaster Tim Lane;
. How a sole child, single parent and three cat family muddled through, with Sam eventually catching the sports journalism bug and making her own mark in Australian sports broadcasting and journalism.